Part of Golden Mile Tower car park still closed after fire, tenants say vehicles belong to car sharing firm Shariot

SINGAPORE: Four days after a fire at Golden Mile Tower, one of the car park's floors remains closed to the public. 

When CNA visited on Monday (Sep 2) and Tuesday, the charred shells of more than 30 vehicles were still on the sixth floor of the open-air car park. 

“The area affected by the fire incident remains closed to the public while investigations are ongoing. We are awaiting further instructions from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) regarding the next steps,” said LHN Group, which owns and manages the car park. 

CAR PARK STILL ACCESSIBLE

On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, it was still possible to walk up the slope leading from the fifth floor to the sixth floor of the car park to get close to the burnt-out cars. Access via one of the staircases leading to the sixth floor was blocked, but the car park remained accessible through another staircase.

Tenants at Golden Mile Tower told CNA that the burnt-out vehicles belonged to dealership Hamilton Autobahn and car sharing company Shariot, as their cars are parked on the fifth and sixth floors.

An employee at another car dealership located in Golden Mile Tower said Hamilton Autobahn and Shariot are owned by the same group. 

Shariot is a car sharing company, which rents out these vans starting from S$6.90 an hour. 

The burnt vehicles are Honda N-Vans, and many of the tightly-parked cars appeared new and had no licence plates. Preliminary findings after the fire on Saturday indicated that the cars involved were not electric vehicles, said SCDF. 

When CNA visited Hamilton Group’s and Shariot’s office along Macpherson Road on Tuesday, the company would not respond to queries on the matter. 

On Monday afternoon, two men were using sticks to poke around in the burnt-out shells of the cars on the sixth floor. Tenants told CNA they knew that parts of the car park were rented out to multiple car dealerships, and that the two men worked for the affected car company.

They ignored this reporter and would not answer any queries. 

On the fourth floor of the car park, a section was marked out as reserved for Car Pulse, another car dealership. CNA did not see similar signs on the fifth or sixth floor. 

When CNA visited on Monday, several windows on the seventh floor that were close to the site of the fire were broken. Two individuals who had access to the corner unit on the seventh floor confirmed that the windows had shattered due to the heat of the fire. They declined to be named. 

The other shops in Golden Mile Tower had resumed business when CNA visited on Monday. On Saturday, there was some flooding in the basement and water dripping from the ceiling at level two.

Car park operations returned to normal late on Saturday afternoon, LHN Group said in its statement. 

CARS “PACKED LIKE SARDINES”

LHN Group, which owns and manages the Golden Mile Tower car park through its subsidiary LHN Parking, told CNA that it is cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause of the fire. 

The company said it was unable to disclose further information as investigations are ongoing, and apologised for the inconvenience caused to the public. 

“The group acknowledges public concerns and will work closely with the relevant parties and authorities to address any issues and further enhance safety measures where necessary.” 

It did not respond to questions about whether the way the cars were parked was compliant with its regulations and the maximum number of cars allowed on each floor. 

Joseph (not his real name), who owns two units in Golden Mile Tower, said that since 2018, many cars appeared to be parked permanently on levels four, five and six. 

“The whole floor is full of cars. If you count, it’s about 100 to 150 cars,” he said, adding that they were mostly new and unregistered vehicles. 

There are more cars than there are available lots on these floors, Joseph said, noting that they are even parked in lanes for entry and exit, with other visitors or tenants unable to drive through. 

He was concerned that the load on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors would affect the structural integrity of the building, which was built in the 1970s. Joseph added he was often unable to find available car park lots despite paying for season parking.

With the cars parked so closely together, it could also be a fire hazard, he told CNA. 

Joseph said he and other tenants used OneService to report their concerns about the cars, which were “packed like sardines”, to the authorities in 2018. 

In the response seen by CNA, the Municipal Services Office advised them to contact Golden Mile Tower's management to sort out the issue. 

“We also didn’t follow up because there’s nothing we can do, since it’s privately owned,” Joseph said. 

Rachel (not her real name), who works in one of the shops in Golden Mile Tower, told CNA that she and her colleagues did not know about the severity of the parking situation in their building because they typically take the train to work every day.

After the fire broke out, they were shocked to see photos of the cars parked closely together on the sixth floor. 

Rachel said they knew the fourth to sixth floors were mostly occupied by vehicles belonging to car rental or dealership companies, while most visitors would park on the second or third floor. 

But sometimes, these unregistered cars also occupy the third floor and customers would raise the issue, she added. 

“With regards to safety, everybody will be concerned now. But since it’s under the car park management, there’s nothing we can really do,” she said. 

“Hopefully, this will be a reminder to them that they need to be a bit more careful.”